What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 4pm

Psychwest Psychology Services - Kerstin Anderson-Ridge

Home
Australia
Perth, WA
Psychwest Psychology Services - Kerstin Anderson-Ridge

Our mission is to support you to thrive. We help you to develop effective coping skills through evidenced based psychological tools.

We do this by assessing your unique situation to determine collaboratively where changes need to be made so we can help you create more balance and live life to the fullest
We also provide Autism & ADHD assessments At Psychwest we can support and guide you to change limiting patterns and behaviours to create greater balance and fulfilment in your life. Our mission is to support you to create long lasting and meaningful change in your life. Kerstin also provides supervision for the 4+2 and 5+1 pathways and Clinical and Counselling Endorsement programs. She has actively supervised emerging psychologists through their professional pathways for 15 years.

24/10/2025

Assessment Prep Checklist for parents

1. Pack your child’s go-to snacks & water, or favourite toys to keep them comfortable.

2. Bring copies of relevant school/medical reports, GP referrals or relevant history.

3. Prepare your child: Telling them why they’re coming along with timeframes to reduce the unknown. Eg: ‘’we’ll be meeting with Ashleigh tomorrow for an hour to talk about how you learn at school’’.

4. Contact us if unsure: Reach out to our friendly reception team for any further info. We can provide you with our brochure/assessment info sheet on what you can expect.

22/10/2025

Supporting Neurodivergent Kids During Testing!

21/10/2025

What happens if a child is too anxious on assessment day?

It’s completely normal for children to feel nervous before a psychological assessment, as the idea of being “tested” can be overwhelming.

Here’s what you need to know if your child is experiencing anxiety before their assessment:

* Psychologists are trained to recognize anxiety and create a safe, supportive environment to help your child feel at ease.

* We take time to build rapport. We may play, talk, or take breaks; whatever helps your child feel safe.

* If anxiety is too high to continue, that’s okay. We can pause and try again another day when your child feels more ready.

* High anxiety during assessment can tell us important things about your child’s experience, and it may become part of the clinical picture.

* We recommend families talk positively about the visit beforehand and avoid calling it a “test.”

17/10/2025

What we need from you to get clear results in an assessment

Your observation: Tell us what you have noticed. This may be struggles with academics, concentration, emotions or communication.

School feedback: Provide us with recent reports, Naplan results, and communication from teachers. Teachers often see behaviours that differ from home.

Behavioural history: We will ask about early milestones and past diagnoses to get a full picture of your child’s development.

Any specific concerns: Let us know what is worrying you in particular, as this will help guide our testing.

15/10/2025

How we Explain assessment Results Without Jargon

14/10/2025

Are ADHD and Autism linked?

* Yes ADHD and Autism are often comorbid, AKA they often co-occur together.

* Sometimes colloquially referred to as AuDHD.

* Research shows that both conditions share genetic heritability, neurobiology and can often affect similar regions/mechanisms within the brain such as attention switching or emotion regulation.

* This means both conditions can run in families

10/10/2025

OT – An OT can help with developing daily living skills such as focus, coordination, attention and sensory processing. With a focus on fine and gross motor skills, and understanding the sensory systems, children can be supported to engage in daily activities and remove potential barriers to social involvement.

Speech Pathology – This support can help to ensure that your child can communicate their needs effectively and can help with social communication difficulties and non-verbal communication. Speech pathologists may also provide tools or equipment for children to better communicate.

School adjustments – Support in the classroom can allow children to feel less overwhelmed if they are allowed to have accommodations or breaks when they need it. Adjustments can also be made to academic work, such as for additional time in tests, to suit the needs of the child.

Mental health support – This can help with adjusting to a new diagnosis and helping your child understand what this means to them. Psychological support can also help with developing coping strategies tailored for neurodivergent children and help to address any additional mental health concerns that may be related.

07/10/2025

Who should clients be showing their Combined Assessment report to?

After being assessed for autism and ADHD and receiving a diagnosis, you might still be unsure of who to share your report with in order to receive support. Your assessor will discuss this with you in your feedback session, but here’s a quick guide to help you plan your next steps.

If you or your child have been diagnosed with ADHD, you may want support from your school, workplace, paediatrician, or psychiatrist. If you’ve received an Autism diagnosis, you may also be eligible for support through the NDIS.

🩺 Paediatricians and Psychiatrists
These professionals manage medical and pharmaceutical treatment. Sharing your report can help them make informed decisions about your care.

🏫 Schools and Workplaces
Sharing your diagnosis can help you access accommodations and supports, such as individualised education plans or workplace adjustments. You can choose to share only a letter of diagnosis or recommendations instead of the full report, in the interest of protecting your privacy. Discuss this with your assessor at Psychwest.

🤝NDIS
To access NDIS funding (for supports like occupational therapy, support work, or employment services), you’ll need to provide proof of diagnosis and your level of support needs. You can share either your full report or a diagnosis confirmation letter with the NDIS team, who will then discuss your goals and needs with you.

💭Remember
At the end of the day, it is your choice who you share your report with, and you only need to share it with the people or organisations you’re seeking support from. If you have more questions after your assessment, feel free to ask your assessor at Psychwest.

03/10/2025

What each section of your autism report actually means.

1. Title – The title page will have your personal details and details of the assessment. For example, the name of your assessor and what dates you were assessed.

2. Background & history – Any relevant background information will be mentioned here including your educational and occupational history, developmental history, and mental health history. This paints a picture of who you are and what difficulties you have faced.

3. Assessment results – Results of your assessment in easy-to-understand tables and comments from the assessor with their interpretation of the results. This may include also include results from screeners so we can rule out alternative diagnoses.

4. Diagnosis - A summary of the diagnosis if applicable. If you don’t meet the criteria for any diagnosis, this will be stated and explained.

5. Recommendations – Your assessor will provide individualised recommendations depending on the results of your assessment. Resources and helpful strategies will be included here as well.

30/09/2025

Why Assessment appointments Take Time

When a client undertakes an assessment process, the clinician is there to work closely and slowly with the client as these sessions often require more time due to the different factors that need to be taken into account such as rapport-building, detailed history-taking, consideration of collateral information obtained from friends/family and formal assessment results.

When more time is set aside for assessment appointments, it ensures there is adequate time given for considering all the information, collaborative treatment planning and a reduction in potential stress from the client about how ‘rushed’ it may otherwise feel if the session were shorter in duration.

A clinicians goal throughout the assessment process is to ensure the client always feels heard and that they are brought along for the journey every step of the way in an often, important but confronting step in their mental health care.

26/09/2025

4 Components of an ADHD Assessment
 
Clinical Interview

The purpose of conducting a clinical interview is to assess the client against the DSM-5 criteria. When completing an ADHD assessment at Psychwest, we administer the DIVA or Young DIVA (6-18) which is a clinical structured interview which assessment inattentive and hyperactive/impulsivity criteria for ADHD as set out in the DSM-5 and various life domains.
 
Testing Tools

The importance of using testing tools in an ADHD assessment is to assist in narrowing the key symptoms which may be impacting the client with their ADHD-type difficulties. It helps to screen for other possible comorbidities to inform further screeners to assist the client more about themselves.

Observation & Interpretation

The observation during assessment sessions is one of the most valuable aspects of the assessment phase. It is often through the non-verbal and incidental interactions with the client and/or their caregiver (for a child) which helps to further inform the assessment results.

Feedback and planning

The feedback session and future planning is the final stage of the assessment and can be, at times, an emotional or confronting stage of the assessment depending on how the client feels about the results. The clinician is skilled to respond to questions and helping the client interpret the assessment results and to guide and support the client with next steps about what to do with the assessment results from here going forward.

Address

25 Junction Parade Midland
Perth, WA
6056

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 4pm

Telephone

+61894683640

Website

https://www.kerstinandersonridge.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Psychwest Psychology Services - Kerstin Anderson-Ridge posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Psychwest Psychology Services - Kerstin Anderson-Ridge:

Featured

Cottesloe Naturopathic Clinic
Hug Pelvic Physio
4 Antony Street Palmyra